April 2024
Cancer
Risk Assessment
YouTube Live Event with Q and A
The historical foundations of cancer risk assessment were based on fundamental scientific errors that were never corrected, all within the framework of an extraordinary appeal to the authority of the radiation genetics community, led by Hermann J Muller. Even though these individuals were greatly talented and accomplished, they were driven by ideological and self-serving professional biases that would lead to both falsification of the research record and suppression of key scientific findings, all in an effort to establish the linear no-threshold (LNT) model for hereditary and cancer risk assessment, replacing the threshold dose response model. This troubling history has now been revealed in a long series of peer reviewed publications by the author and summarized in a 22-episode documentary by the Health Physics Society* (https://hps.org/hpspublications/historylnt/episodeguide.html).
NCAS
Public Lecture Series
Cancer
Risk Assessment
Its Wretched History and
Its Impact on Public Health
YouTube Live Event with Q and A
Edward J.
Calabrese, PhD
Professor of Toxicology, UMass Amherst
Saturday, April 13, 1:30pm US/Eastern (UTC-04:00)
NCASVideo
YouTube Channel:
The historical foundations of cancer risk assessment were based on fundamental scientific errors that were never corrected, all within the framework of an extraordinary appeal to the authority of the radiation genetics community, led by Hermann J Muller. Even though these individuals were greatly talented and accomplished, they were driven by ideological and self-serving professional biases that would lead to both falsification of the research record and suppression of key scientific findings, all in an effort to establish the linear no-threshold (LNT) model for hereditary and cancer risk assessment, replacing the threshold dose response model. This troubling history has now been revealed in a long series of peer reviewed publications by the author and summarized in a 22-episode documentary by the Health Physics Society* (https://hps.org/hpspublications/historylnt/episodeguide.html).
This troubling history
remained hidden from the regulatory agencies around the
globe since their inception. These groups simply and
uncritically accepted a flawed and corrupt history,
assuming that it was accurate and reliable. Yet, this path
of historical ignorance led the US EPA, and other national
regulatory agencies, to accept a dishonest foundation upon
which to base and frame cancer risk assessment, terribly
failing in their public service mission. This untenable
situation has placed a continuing stranglehold on the
actions of all regulatory agencies worldwide, improperly
guiding its philosophies, policies and practices down to
the present time.
(*Note that the views expressed in these videos do not necessarily represent official positions of the Health Physics Society.)
Edward J. Calabrese is a Professor of Toxicology at
the University of Massachusetts, School of Public Health
and Health Sciences, Amherst. Dr. Calabrese has researched
extensively in the area of host factors affecting
susceptibility to pollutants, and is the author of over
1,000 papers in scholarly journals, as well as more than
10 books. Dr. Calabrese was awarded the 2009 Marie Curie
Prize from the World Council of Nuclear Workers for his
body of work on hormesis. He was the recipient of the
International CCN Society's Springer award for 2010. He
was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from
McMaster University in 2013. In 2014 he was awarded the
Petr Beckmann Award from Doctors for Disaster
Preparedness. Dr. Calabrese was awarded the G. William
Morgan Lectureship Award and the Robert S. Landauer, Sr.,
Lectureship Award in 2022 from the Health Physics Society.
https://www.ncas.org/2024/03/cancer-risk-assessment-its-wretched.html
(*Note that the views expressed in these videos do not necessarily represent official positions of the Health Physics Society.)
Dr. Calabrese says that the following materials provide a very useful background for his presentation:
The historical foundations of cancer risk assessment, hosted on the Health Physics Society site and on their YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@healthphysicssociety5037/videos
Note that the 22
episodes total several hours, but can be expedited
by adjusting the YouTube playback speed to 1.25x,
1.5x, 1.75x, or 2x.
Two papers on
the topic:
How
to Watch and Participate in this Online Discussion
Event:
1) Use a supported
browser... https://www.youtube.com/supported_browsers
2) Use the link https://youtu.be/3R8YuZXUklI
3) The live stream begins
shortly before 1:30pm US/Eastern
(UTC-04:00) on Saturday, April 13, 2024.
4) To post questions, you
must be signed in to a Google account.
5) Post your questions in
the chat window to the right of the video player when the
live stream is active.
6) Click into where it says "Say something..." and begin
typing (up to 200 characters). Then click the send icon 
. Along with your question, please post what city or town
you're in.
Eldritch Investigations and a Discount for NCAS
For the discount, use code NCAS when subscribing here:
https://rorschachtheatre.com/23-24-psychogeographies-project/
Sounds a bit like an expanded version of our NCAS Skeptours!
"Cults and cryptids
collide when a curious Washingtonian investigates local
unexplained phenomena. Explore the lure of the unknown
and its entanglement with DC history in this multi-chapter
adventure across the city."
At the start of the pandemic, the local Rorschach Theatre company created a unique theatrical experience that extended over the course of 9-10 months. It was originally a way for the show to go on when the pandemic shut down stage performances, but it has been so successful that they've continued into their 4th year with an all-new story in December 2023.
Rorschach often incorporates elements of fantasy, horror, and/or supernatural. This coming season the Eldritch Investigations project involves themes particularly close to NCAS. The company has extended a 20% discount to NCAS members.
Subscribers receive a monthly box or envelope with maps, directions to locales around DC, and other artifacts such as postcards, telegrams, and various trinkets that help unfold a story over the course of 9-10 months. You investigate these locations at your own pace, on your own time. They also provide online videos for those who can't visit in person.
At the start of the pandemic, the local Rorschach Theatre company created a unique theatrical experience that extended over the course of 9-10 months. It was originally a way for the show to go on when the pandemic shut down stage performances, but it has been so successful that they've continued into their 4th year with an all-new story in December 2023.
Rorschach often incorporates elements of fantasy, horror, and/or supernatural. This coming season the Eldritch Investigations project involves themes particularly close to NCAS. The company has extended a 20% discount to NCAS members.
Subscribers receive a monthly box or envelope with maps, directions to locales around DC, and other artifacts such as postcards, telegrams, and various trinkets that help unfold a story over the course of 9-10 months. You investigate these locations at your own pace, on your own time. They also provide online videos for those who can't visit in person.
The adventure has already
begun, so new subscribers will receive all previous
chapters in the first shipment.
For the discount, use code NCAS when subscribing here:
https://rorschachtheatre.com/23-24-psychogeographies-project/
Sounds a bit like an expanded version of our NCAS Skeptours!
May NCAS Event
Zelda Gilbert,
Professor Emerita of Psychology at Woodbury University,
will present "The Psychology of Conspiracy Theories."
Concepts such as existential, epistemic and
socio-psychological motivations will be defined and
applied to various conspiracy theories, providing the
audience with the tools to do their own analyses. Audience
members will then be invited to create and evaluate their
own conspiracy theories. Saturday, May 4 at 1:30 PM ET at
Arlington Central Library's Barbara M. Donnellan
Auditorium, also streamed live on the NCASVideo YouTube
channel.
April PhACT Lecture
Our skeptical neighbors to the north, the Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking (PhACT), will host their next online event on Saturday, April 20 at 2 PM ET. Skeptical Inquirer columnist Rob Palmer ("The Well-Known Skeptic") will present "What's the Harm of Psychics?" Event details at http://www.phact.org/meetings.php.
Our skeptical neighbors to the north, the Philadelphia Association for Critical Thinking (PhACT), will host their next online event on Saturday, April 20 at 2 PM ET. Skeptical Inquirer columnist Rob Palmer ("The Well-Known Skeptic") will present "What's the Harm of Psychics?" Event details at http://www.phact.org/meetings.php.
April Bay Area
Skeptics Lecture
The [San Francisco] Bay Area Skeptics will host
their next online event on Thursday, April 11 at 10:30
PM ET. Dave Farina, a science communicator and
generalist best known for his YouTube channel,
"Professor Dave Explains," will present "The Birth of
the Science Communicator." In this current era of
internet-borne disinformation and science denial
pandemonium, science communication has emerged as a
vibrant and painfully necessary field. How do we help
people know what is true? This will be livestreamed on
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVf7OYX2nJQ
Torn From Today's Headlines
By Scott Snell
"60 Minutes" Focuses Again on "Havana Syndrome" Weapon Hypothesis
The March 31, 2024 edition of
the CBS News TV program "60 Minutes" presented a segment
entitled, "Targeting Americans," their fourth report on
the topic of "Havana Syndrome" since 2019. Producers Oriana De Granados and
Michael Rey, and correspondent Scott Pelley, led their
viewers through a series of assertions that a sonic or
microwave weapon has injured diplomatic and intelligence
service employees from the US working abroad or, in some
cases, in the Washington, DC area. Viewers received no
hint of any viable alternate explanations.By Scott Snell
"60 Minutes" Focuses Again on "Havana Syndrome" Weapon Hypothesis
On the other hand, the Wikipedia page (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Havana_syndrome)
and Skeptical Inquirer article https://skepticalinquirer.org/2023/08/the-rise-and-fall-of-havana-syndrome/
provide information about the psychological hypothesis.
Generally it's difficult for viewers to assess
the journalistic quality of a professional news program,
but there was a remarkable exception during the recent
"Targeting Americans" segment. In one of the
interviews, Pelley provided a photo of the "attacker
suspect" to a syndrome victim. She responded, "It
absolutely does [look like the person outside my home
when I was consumed by a piercing sound]."
For some reason, Pelley and his production team didn't instead show the victim a collection of photos of different people (including one of the suspect), and ask the victim to select the best-matching one. That would've added credibility to the interviewee, and to their report as well.
Perhaps this was their one mistake? Or their second mistake...after omitting alternate explanations? At this point, does the report look like the result of careful, intelligent research?
For some reason, Pelley and his production team didn't instead show the victim a collection of photos of different people (including one of the suspect), and ask the victim to select the best-matching one. That would've added credibility to the interviewee, and to their report as well.
Perhaps this was their one mistake? Or their second mistake...after omitting alternate explanations? At this point, does the report look like the result of careful, intelligent research?
References:
"Targeting Americans" from March 31, 2024...
...and reports from 2019 and 2022:
More Videos from
CSICon 2023
Center for Inquiry has
recently posted "Penn & Teller in Conversation with
Richard Wiseman" on its YouTube site: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMGqNgpAl1c
Also recently added was
"Here Come the Creationists...Again" by Eugenie Scott, the
former executive director of the National Center for
Science Education and the current president of the Bay
Area Skeptics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCKNUgPNBQ4
NCAS Membership
At its September 20, 2023 meeting, the NCAS Board of
Directors approved a change in membership classifications,
effective October 1. Formerly in two classifications,
Single and Double, membership now comprises one or two
individuals at the same home address. In addition to
simplifying transactions for the NCAS treasurer, this
represents a per-person reduction in membership costs.
The former Single membership cost now covers up to two
people. Consider adding a 2nd person in your household to
your NCAS membership at no extra cost! Both will be able
to vote separately in the annual NCAS board of directors
election. Send an email to ncas@ncas.org
to add a 2nd person to your membership. We hope to add
members, and of course a student or other young person is
always welcome for the future of skepticism. Also see https://www.ncas.org/p/join-ncas.html.
Some members and contacts
of NCAS receive a postal notification of this and every new
monthly Shadow of a Doubt. The Shadow Light
postcard announces the monthly lecture and highlights of the
electronic Shadow of a Doubt, which is available
online at ncas.org/p/shadow.html. NCAS
thereby reduces Shadow production and postage costs.
To further reduce costs, members and contacts can opt out of
postal notification altogether, while continuing to receive Shadow
of a Doubt via e-mail. To opt out, send us an e-mail at
ncas@ncas.org.
Time to Renew?
Be sure to check your renewal date above your postal address on the Shadow Light postcard. Send any queries to ncas@ncas.org. Use the online membership form to renew.
https://www.ncas.org/p/shadow.html
Time to Renew?
Be sure to check your renewal date above your postal address on the Shadow Light postcard. Send any queries to ncas@ncas.org. Use the online membership form to renew.
https://www.ncas.org/p/shadow.html
No comments:
Post a Comment